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Desperate plea to save girl's life
An urgent appeal has been launched to save the life of a seven-year-old girl who is battling against leukaemia.
Kettering youngster Jenna Mae Tokens is in desperate need of a bone marrow donor after attempts to find a match with family members failed.
Jenna has been at Leicester Royal Infirmary since being diagnosed in May. Her family and the Anthony Nolan Trust are urging county residents to attend a donation session in Kettering this month.
Jenna's auntie Michaela Frankcam, of Pendle Avenue, Kettering, said: "We are devastated that we can't do anything for her. None of the family is a close enough match, but there is somebody out there who will be."
She said she had registered as a donor to help others and hoped people would step forward to help Jenna.
Leave your messages of support for the family by registering at the bottom of the story and posting your comment.
"Jenna is suffering with a variety of complications, but she is quite chipper with it. At the minute she is in isolation in the hospital because she is so poorly," she said.
Jenna's rare genetic condition means a bone marrow transplant is key to her recovery.
Mrs Frankcam said: "There was talk of somebody being a match but not a perfect match, so we are hoping to get a better match for her because it will be important in the long run."
The Grange Primary School pupil's mother Tracy Tokens and partner Ian Lemon have been making regular trips to Leicester while also caring for the rest of the family.
Mrs Frankcam said: "My sister has got two other children as well, so it has been like running two lives, travelling up there to visit, while looking after the rest of the family."
Debby Jepps, from the Anthony Nolan Trust, stressed the importance of bone marrow donors, and said: "The more people we have registering, the more chance we have of finding those life- saving matches for patients.
"We are delighted to be working together with Jenna and her family and are extremely grateful for their help and support during this difficult time in our life saving work."
The donation session will take place from 4.30pm to 7.30pm on Thursday, September 25, at Brambleside Primary School, Kettering. It takes just 25 minutes to drop in and find out if you could be a lifesaver.
The main criteria for donating are you are aged 18 to 40, in good health, weigh more than eight stones (51kg), not be severely overweight and willing to donate to any patient you may ever match.
Donating bone marrow is usually done painlessly by administering a drug which causes bone marrow stem cells to flow into the bloodstream, then extracting them from there – rather than by extracting directly from the bones.
For more information contact the Anthony Nolan Trust at www.anthonynolan.org.uk or call 020 72841234.
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Weather for Kettering
Sunday 27 May 2012
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